


"Stalemate" (Reylo Week, 2019)

by painted_in_ink



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Dark Rey, F/M, Resistance Fighter, ReyloWeek2019, Role Reversal, Smuggler Ben Solo, tros
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-23
Updated: 2019-04-23
Packaged: 2020-01-23 05:30:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18543253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/painted_in_ink/pseuds/painted_in_ink
Summary: Role Reversal Ben/Rey, loosely based on the desert scene from the trailer.In which Rey is Palatine’s daughter, Ben Solo is on the side of the resistance and is as charming as his father, and they had the whole last film to develop this wonderful tension. (Think of the events of TLJ, of Snoke manipulating Rey.)This contains themes of supposed leaked plot points for TROS, but should also be pretty easy to gather if you've seen the trailer, even if you haven't heard the theories on youtube.





	"Stalemate" (Reylo Week, 2019)

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Reylo Week!!!!!!!!

When he saw her coming, he waited.

 

When he sensed her getting near, he climbed the cliff.

 

When she got close enough he jumped, and in one smooth motion, placed the tiny explosive that when detonated, caused her to drag on one side of the silencer and finally crash.

 

She emerges from the wreckage, that fiery intensity still glowing within her eyes.

 

 _Kriff,_ he might be in love with her.

 

But she doesn’t look like she’s ready to talk.

 

She clenches her teeth, ignites her saber and swings, and he quickly dodges, grabs her hand, and knocks it out of the way.

 

They fight, block for blow for defensive maneuver, which eventually ends with Rey turning them around and then tackling him to the ground.

 

They grapple, and when Ben decides it’s a better idea to not let her get the upper hand he rolls them over, Rey resisting him the entire way.

 

“No, no—“ He said, crawling over her as she attempted to kick him in the crotch, _again. Low blows like last time._ “No, _no_ ,” He says in the voice you might lightly scold a child with when she attempted to bite the arms that pinned hers down. She was a tough one.

 

He only grabbed her hands to try to cause her to calm down and stop trying to physically hurt him, but when that didn’t work she then began bending pieces of the tie silencer with the force, which sat directly above them; bringing the wreckage down closer and closer behind Ben’s neck above where they lay.

 

 _“Hear_ me out, _please,_ ” he asked calmly, looking into her eyes, and for Rey, it became a losing battle. She couldn’t do it and he knew she wouldn’t. She groaned and kicked beneath him, but it was fruitless; his larger body held her lithe one with ease.

 

He watched her face; studying her. “You look beautiful,” he told her truthfully when she paused to catch her breath.

 

“ _Really?”_ She asked, voice dripping with sarcasm.

 

“Yes,” he remarked, still studying her, letting his gaze flicker down briefly, giving her another once over. He _still_ couldn’t believe she was _here._

 

“Then I wonder, why didn’t you accept my offer to rule the galaxy?” Her voice climbed as her sentence finished.

 

He remained calm, ever the tactful one, though also the one utterly bewitched when it came to her sassy attitude.

 

“You know I couldn’t do that,” it sounded firm, but when he said it with those puppy eyes it became so hard to hate him.

 

“I _don’t_ believe you…” She bit out, looking away.

 

“ _Rey,”_ when she looked back, he was leaning down over her; a hairsbreadth away from her face, _too close_.

 

“I’ve missed you,” He breathes against her open mouth.

 

“Then _why_ did you _leave,”_ she sounds bitter, and she knows it stings.

 

“I _had_ to, Snoke was manipulating you.”

 

“He was my _father!”_

 

“He didn’t tell you that when he _was_ Snoke!” He said, at last, breaking his own rule to have a constant calm demeanor with her. “Or when he left you to rot on that godforsaken junk planet.”

 

She gritted her teeth and blinked back tears.

 

“He was using you; I couldn’t be a part of that, even if you wouldn’t come with me then… wouldn’t listen,” he admitted, emotional himself.

 

He thought about the throne room, convincing her to admit the truth; how he begged her to leave the past behind, leave all of that abuse and start over with him. 

 

 Ben Solo was never known to plead; not for his life, not for anything.

 

 _Please_ , he'd said.

 

“So you know what?” he said finally.

 

He got up, giving her the chance to reach her fallen saber if she so desired.

 

“If you’re gonna kill me, kill me. Or, you can stand up and help me find another way to solve this mess because I’m not going to move forward any longer pretending that we’re enemies. We’re _not_.”

 

And he stood, spread his arms wide, eyes closed, and waited.

 

.. And waited.

 

The blow never came.

 

When he got tired of not being able to see her when she was _right in front of him_ , he peaked his eyes open, hoping he'd called her bluff. Finding her still in the same place he strode over and extended his hand.

 

“Stalemate?” He offered in a cheeky, half-smug half-affectionate way of his, partially aware that he was still _probably_  betting with his life.

 

She sighed as she took his hand. “You could have killed me before, on the ship. Why didn’t yo—“

 

“Come here,” he said as he pulled her to him, in an entirely different kind of embrace than the one before. This one was purposefully intimate.

 

When she didn’t lash out or push him away, and he watched carefully to see if she would, he gently rested his forehead against hers and stared into her eyes happily.

 

“It’s good to see you, _Rey_.”

 

The way he said her name… That whole sentence.. Felt like _sin,_ but in the bestway.

 

Apparently bewitched in the same way he was, she gently tilted her chin up and he met her halfway, and he finally got to steal that kiss he’d wanted ever since the elevator.

 

It could have worked then, but he didn’t want to have it because he’d pressed for it.

 

The effort it took to get here meant nothing to him. She was simply too good; too worth it. A beautiful, deceptively charming, _lethal… diamond_ in the kriffing rough, and so very worth his time and energy. She may have had issues, baggage, and whatever else, but he knew there was good in her and that she could move past the terrible things that had been done to her. He believed in her, with everything.

 

He didn't need easy, just her willingness. The rest they could work out as they went.

 

All his life Ben had wondered what it meant for him that he seemed to have nearly just as strong a pull to the dark side as he did to the light. Why he could never fully be a jedi but knew his place was somewhere in the middle and not consumed by dark impulse... It was so he could find her, understand her, and not be afraid of the pull she had on him... though he didn't mind being tempted.

 

It was the same reason he suspected that she felt drawn to him, that the goodwill bottled up inside him was something that she identified with, and needed in her life as well. They could balance each other.

 

Ben Solo finally found what he’d been missing all those years ago when he whispered the words, asking to know where it was that he belonged.

 

He didn't need masters, more skills, rigid systems, or another war to fight.

 

This was it, it was _her_.

 

He was home.

**Author's Note:**

> Now see, I'm mean, so I'm gonna say it, but I recognize this to be an entirely too (still good, but) overly used plot for men; she's got all the issues, but I see all the potential and she's worth it to fight for. I probably sound feminist, but *no one complains when it's the guy that is saying that and doing that. It's chivalrous and makes him a great guy with good character and a good arc.
> 
> But when it's the other way around like with Rey in canon, for some reason everyone is like... I should be worried?
> 
> I guess to me this means I need to do more writing about Rey's internal world when she's thinking about dealing with Ben Solo, because in my head it's just like this, and it's just as good an arc on her as it is on him.
> 
> He's not someone she should pass up just because he has problems, and she believes that he can grow beyond them and is willing to wait and be patient with that.
> 
> *shrug* I'm always for a strong female. To me her loving someone with baggage doesn't mean she has to... compromise. It means she's all the more an understanding and compelling character for seeing past the rough stuff, and I think it speaks to the strength of who she is.
> 
> And I DO want to see a ton of character growth and change for Ben in canon, most definitely. 
> 
> Reylo is about redemption to me, you guys.
> 
> And I guess I purposely ended up writing the role reversal to try and show that.
> 
> Alright, I'm good now. Just needed to put that out there.


End file.
